Karzai cuts short China trip due to civilian killings

KABUL-led troops in the central province of Lgar, the Presidential Palace said on Thursday.

Karzai is shortening his official visit to China following the International Security Assistance Force (ISAF) raid in Logar province and suicide attacks in the southern Kandahar province, said a statement from his office. Karzai is in Beijing to attend the two-day Shanghai Cooperation Organisation summit.

Nearly 22 civilians were killed and 50 others wounded in twin suicide attacks in Kandahar, while 18 people died in the ISAF strike in Logar, the statement said while denouncing the assaults.

“The NATO operations that claimed civilian lives and caused losses to people are simply unacceptable,” said the statement. Karzai telephone Vice President Mohammad Qaseem Fahim and the governors of Logar and Kandahar on Wednesday night to check on the attacks. 

So far ISAF had not confirmed the civilian casualties and said they had launched investigation into the allegations.

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